The vastness of the universe suggests advanced alien civilisations, or at least evidence of them, ought to be out there. The signs – such as megastructures and communications – should be obvious. Instead, astronomers are confronted with a silent universe beyond our own planet.
This “eerie silence”, as cosmologist Paul Davies puts it, inspired the great physicist Enrico Fermi to ask: “Where are they?”
Many have proposed solutions, but now another is on the table. What if aliens are out there after all, only they are sleeping, awaiting a glorious future when the universe is cooler, providing the right conditions for them to fulfil their ultimate ambitions?
According to this new idea, alien civilisations emerged and flourished in the early universe, growing in size and developing technology to harness the energy from stars and galaxies. Eventually, after material expansion, these aliens would turn to more philosophical musings, pondering the big questions of the cosmos.
Addressing these will need considerable thinking, not only with their organic brains, but also with synthetic brains, like Deep Thought, the immense supercomputer built to ponder the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything, dreamed up by writer Douglas Adams.
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